Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The person I brought back home five years ago.

May, Shangyang Street.

As the sky gradually darkened, dim lights were lit on the streets, and the sun was like a hook, hanging faintly in the sky.

An inconspicuous carriage stopped in front of the restaurant. Looking up, one could vaguely see a woman sitting in front of the window on the second floor. Her profile was covered by a veil, making it difficult to see clearly, but one could still vaguely make out some of her good looks.

A gust of wind blew past the window, gently lifting the white veil on her veil, and then it slowly fell down again. In just a moment, the man sitting across from the desk was distracted.

“Ahem—”

A maidservant in a half-worn aquamarine jacket and skirt stood by the table. Seeing him staring at her daughter with an infatuated look, she coughed lightly and interrupted, "Our daughter is asking you a question."

The man suddenly came to his senses and said with a wry smile, "The silver needed isn't much, just another fifty taels will be enough."

"Fifty taels?!" Hongye exclaimed. When she was about to retort, she heard her girl respond in a low voice.

"good."

The woman lowered her eyes for a moment, then placed an emerald green gold-inlaid jade bracelet on the table. "This bracelet should be worth thirty taels. I'll give you the rest later."

Hongye's gaze fell on the bracelet. Her eyes slightly opened and she couldn't help but murmur, "Girl..." This bracelet was left to the girl by the lady, and she had seen it before.

The jade bracelet was of excellent quality. Even from a distance, one could tell it was top-grade, worth far more than thirty taels of silver. As if fearing Lin Zhen would regret it, the man quickly picked up the bracelet and tucked it into his sleeve, saying with a smile, "Okay, okay. My lady is so straightforward, I can't make things difficult for her."

The man got the upper hand, exchanged a few pleasantries with a smile, and then stood up.

It was already getting late, so Hongye helped her daughter up and followed the man out. After a few steps, the man suddenly turned around, looked Lin Zhen up and down, and whispered to her, "With a figure like yours, if you're willing to receive guests, you won't have to worry..."

The man noticed Lin Zhen's attire from the Jiaofangsi. The Jiaofangsi only received officials and children from aristocratic families. Even though he knew this rule, he still couldn't help but speak.

Although he lowered his voice, Hongye, who was standing beside him, still heard it. She clenched her teeth and was about to open her mouth, but Lin Zhen had already taken the lead and said coldly, "Just find the person for me, and don't worry about the rest."

After Lin Zhen finished speaking, he folded his sleeves and strode out. Seeing this, Hongye hurriedly followed him, no longer paying any attention to the man.

As the two walked down the stairs, they could vaguely hear the man spitting, "Are government prostitutes not prostitutes?! Why are you pretending to be so noble? Pah!"

After getting on the carriage, Lin Zhen still had a grim expression, but Hongye beside him couldn't help sobbing softly.

She had once been the apple of the eye of the Supreme Court Justice's eye, a commoner like her wouldn't even have the right to see her. Now, she was being humiliated like this. The anger she had endured in the teahouse had somehow transformed into a deep sense of grievance, bringing her to tears.

Inside the carriage, a pair of slender white hands stretched out from the white gauze veil. Lin Zhen slowly took off the veil. A silver hairpin was pinned diagonally in her black hair. The woman had long eyebrows and phoenix eyes, and she was cold and beautiful.

"Why are you crying? Maybe they can find someone soon."

At this moment, Hongye also realized that she had lost her composure. Fearing that she would upset the young lady, she quickly sniffed and replied, "The spirits of the master and his wife in heaven will surely protect the second young lady. Perhaps next time, we will be able to find out the whereabouts of the second young lady."

Hearing this, Lin Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and said to the coachman, "Let's go."

*

The carriage did not drive directly to the street of Jiaofangsi, but turned left and right and stopped at the entrance of a deserted alley.

In the middle of the alley is a large house, which was once the Lin Mansion. Now only two long, worn seals remain in front of the door.

A few months ago, General Ji Rui returned to Beijing and led his troops to besiege the Lin Mansion on a trumped-up charge. Afterwards, the criminal Lin Yunfeng "committed suicide out of fear of punishment", and the entire Lin Mansion was confiscated and exiled.

Since then, no one has set foot here.

A sinner cannot be worshipped, so Lin Zhen did not go any further inside. She just stood at the entrance of the alley, staring blankly inside.

Hongye followed her quietly and slowly placed an iron basin on the ground.

Lin Zhen withdrew her gaze, pulled up her skirt and knelt in front of the iron basin.

Hongye took out the paper money that she had prepared in advance from her arms, handed it to Lin Zhen along with the fire starter, and then knelt down.

The firelight illuminated Lin Zhen's smooth face. She lowered her eyes and looked at the pages of yellow paper burning in the brazier, silent and indifferent.

Hongye sprinkled paper money into the iron basin while secretly glancing at Lin Zhen.

On the night when Lin's father committed suicide by taking poison in his room, he only called Lin Zhen into the room.

No one knew what the master said to the girl before he passed away. She only remembered that when the girl came out of the room that day, her face was as pale as snow, with tears still hanging in the corners of her eyes, and her eyes were dull. Before she could ask, the whole person fell into her arms.

The lady passed away early and the master did not take a concubine, so the cooking of the backyard fell on the girl's shoulders very early on. If she wanted to be in charge of the family business at such a young age, she had to have some dignity. Therefore, the girl learned the skill of not revealing her thoughts very early on.

That was the first time Hongye saw Lin Zhen lose his composure like this.

But after waking up, the girl acted as if nothing had happened. She never talked about what happened that day and didn't shed a single tear.

The past and the present scene were mixed together. Looking at the calm Lin Zhen, Hongye felt more and more upset. She couldn't help but call out softly: "Girl..."

A light sigh came from the side, "Let's go back."

"Yes, girl."

Hongye pursed her lips and responded, but didn't say anything else. She just reached out and helped Lin Zhen up, and the two of them got into the carriage together.

*

When I returned to the Jiaofangsi, it was already late at night.

At this time, the Jiaofangsi was at its busiest.

The lobby on the first floor was packed with people, bustling with activity. In the center of the lobby was a platform three feet above the ground. Above it, lights shone, and the air was filled with the sounds of phoenixes and phoenixes. Beneath it, people were clinking glasses, toasting each other.

Lin Zhen walked around the luxurious lobby through a narrow passage on the side and went to the backyard of the Jiaofangsi.

Compared to the noisy front hall, the backyard is particularly quiet.

But because it was late at night, the obscene sounds and words coming from the rooms were even more exciting. Even Hongye, who had never experienced sex, couldn't help blushing every time she heard them.

Lin Zhen standing by also frowned, as if she had thought of something. Her ears flushed red, and she angrily took off her veil and held it in her hand, lowering her head and walking quickly to the back.

Halfway through the journey, a little girl came hurriedly and said that someone had specifically given something as a reward to Lin Zhen and asked her to go and get it. As the person spoke, she looked at Lin Zhen secretly with an inquiring look.

The little girl heard the maids in the front yard discussing privately that the person who sent this rich young lady to the Music Bureau was the one she picked up from outside five years ago.

Not to mention that the Lin family didn't commit any serious crime, even if they did, their savior should be given a break.

What was this Jiaofangsi? To put it nicely, it was a place arranged by the Ministry of Rites for the aristocratic families to perform at banquets in the imperial palace.

To put it bluntly, this is just a Zhangtai Liuxiang, except that the men serving there are slightly more noble.

The fact that he could send someone to such a place shows how much he hates this rich young lady.

The little girl couldn't help but turn her gaze to Lin Zhen's face. She had drooping long eyelashes, deep eyebrows and light lips. Although her face was beautiful, it gave people a sense of alienation and indifference.

This was probably what the maids were talking about as a fierce look. She must have tortured that man a lot in the Lin residence, leading to this torture now.

The little girl sighed, her mind had already wandered. When she came back to her senses, she found that Lin Zhen was looking at her intently.

There was clearly no anger in his eyes, but it made her feel a chill down her spine...

He couldn't help but secretly complain: I should have known not to take this job. This woman has offended the upstart general in the capital. Not to mention that no one dares to give her money to buy her love, even the people in the Music Bureau usually stay away from her, as if avoiding a plague god.

She wanted to leave quickly, so she bravely met Lin Zhen's gaze and said, "Who of you is going to get it? I still have some skills!"

She didn't dare to rush to find Lin Zhen, but the person who gave the reward was from the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion. For them, the general could not be offended, and the Marquis' Mansion could not be provoked.

The people in the Music Bureau avoided Lin Zhen but did not make things difficult for her. Another reason was that they knew that Lin Zhen was the fiancée of the Yong'an Marquis' son.

Of course, the engagement was no longer valid, but looking at the things that the prince sent to the Music Bureau every few days, it was clear that he still had feelings for her.

"We don't—"

Lin Zhen had never accepted anything sent by the Yong'an Marquis Mansion. Hongye sighed and was about to refuse when she suddenly heard Lin Zhen say, "Go ahead."

"What?" Hongye looked surprised. She had never expected the girl to change her mind. Without waiting for Lin Zhen's response, she hurriedly said to herself, "Okay, okay, I'll go get it right away."

*

Lin Zhen was arranged to stay in the most remote abandoned courtyard of the Jiaofangsi, which had a total of three rooms, one of which was still piled with a lot of miscellaneous items.

As soon as he entered the yard, there was still a slight musty smell of rotting wood in the air. Even after a long time, Lin Zhen still frowned, unable to adapt.

She walked towards a room in the middle and pushed the door open. The room was pitch black. She slowly closed the door behind her with her backhand, seeming a little tired. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes to rest for a while, then lit the tinder in her sleeve and walked towards a bean lamp on the table in front of the door.

Before the candles could be lit, the tinder in her hand was almost extinguished by a gust of wind. The moment Lin Zhen stretched out her hand to block it, the world spun around and she was held in someone's arms. The tinder in her hand fell to the ground and rolled out.

There was silence all around. Lin Zhen clenched his long, white fingers cautiously. A familiar voice rang out from his ear, accompanied by the faint aroma of wine: "Don't move, it's me."

The person behind her was no one else but the instigator of the Lin family's confiscation of property and exile, and the person she had personally brought back home five years ago.